De Rustica Olive Estate won both the ‘Best in Class’ and the ‘Absolute Best Olive Oil’ medals at the EVOOLEUM Awards in Spain this week, demonstrating that South African Extra Virgin Olive Oil is not only of the highest quality but also capable of competing at the most prestigious international level.
The EVOOLEUM competition, one of the world’s largest and most stringent olive oil competitions, evaluates and judges extra virgin olive oils (EVOOs) from all over the world.
This year, a panel of 26 judges from ten countries blind-tasted nearly 1 000 samples from dozens of global producers, with South Africa’s De Rustica taking first place.
De Rustica Estate is named after the small Southern Cape town of De Rust and also after a book by Roman author Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella that was considered the bible of professional agriculture for over 1 000 years in the ancient Western World.
While the ancient Greeks lit their lamps with olive oil, De Rustica’s owners, Rob and Jenny Still, hope that their estate will pave the way for a world-class olive industry in the heart of the Klein Karoo.
Vittoria Jooste, CEO of SA Olive Industry Association, said: ‘We wish to formally congratulate De Rustica on this proud triumph. This accolade proves once again that South African olive producers can compete internationally and win major awards around the world.’
She continued, ‘De Rustica’s achievement is further testament to the fact that South African EVOO, as verified by SA Olive’s Commitment to Compliance (CTC) scheme, is truly world-class.’
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